30 Qur’an Manuscripts

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Thirty Qur’an Manuscripts Honoring Thirty Days of Ramadan

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In honor of the Ramadan month of fasting, the National Library of Israel presents a digital exhibition of rare and selected Qur’an manuscripts, from the ninth through the nineteenth centuries, and from diverse Muslim locales. These manuscripts are part of the NLI collection, which includes 1,800 manuscripts in the Arabic script, and over 300 manuscripts of the Qur’an.

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Ottoman Qur’an from 1869.

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​The emphasis on thirty Qur’ans reflects one of the central rituals performed during the month of Ramadan: a daily reading of one section in order to complete the recitation of the Qur’an at the end of Ramadan. The Library will highlight a different Qur’an each day throughout the month. Each Qur’an will be displayed with a link to the full digitized text. ​​​

12th century Qur’an with variant readings. In the margins of the texts are traditional variant readings based on the method of Mujahid of Basra (d. 936), using different colors for each of the seven recitation traditions.

Mamluk Qur’an from 1329. Naskh script with starlets to symbolize the end of each sentence, and conifer flowers to represent the tenth sentence. Displayed here are verses 5-26 of Chapter 2, Surat al-Bakarah.Yahuda Ms.Ar.886

15th century Qur’an, most likely from Iran, written using one of the six styles developed by the famous calligrapher Yaqut al-Musta‘simi (d. 1298). Displayed here are the opening pages of the Qur’an.Yahuda Ms.Ar.896

Iranian Qur’an from 1568, written in the Herat style (from the Herat region of modern day Afghanistan). Naskh script. Displayed here are the two opening pages of the Qur’an written in the Rihani calligraphic style.

Iranian Qur’an from 1614, written in Naskh script by the calligrapher, ‘Imad al-Din b. Ibrahim al-Shirazi. Displayed here is the opening chapter of the Qur’an spread onto both pages with sun-like forms, following the Shirazi style. Yahuda Ms.Ar.925

Mughal Indian Qur’an, written between 1708-1717, by Yaqut Khan for the Mughal emperor, Farrukhsiyar Badshah (r. 1713-1719). Naskh script. Displayed here is the opening chapter of the Qur’an following the Shirazi style.

. Qur’an from Timbuktu (in modern day Mali), written around 1775 using Arabic Sudanese script that derives from the Mughrabi script. This style of Qur’an is distinctive for being unbound and preserved in leather boxes.

Javanese Qur’an from 1688. The first part of a Qur’an that was written in Java. Naskh script with slight alternations (e.g., a dot instead of the traditional shaddah, for emphasis) and with textual errors. Shown here are the opening pages of the Qur’an.

Qajar Qur’an from 1835, with interlinear translation into Persian. The manuscript was commissioned by the city council of Sanandaj in Kurdistan as a gift for the military governor, Amir Nizam Muhammad Khan, of the Qajar court.

The fast of Ramadan is one of the "five pillars of Islam" and a principal precept of the faith. Muslims are commanded to fast from sunrise to sunset for the whole month. It is customary, during the month of Ramadan, to read the whole entire Qur'an, usually broken down into 30 units, one per day of the month.